St. Paul daily globe., 1887-07-02
In European Ball Rooms.

Paris Letter.
Mr. Allen Dodworth sat in his apart
,mentil in the Avenue de Palma and
talked over the state of affairs in Europe
from terpsichorean point of view. "a
European ball rOom," said he, sis full
of surprises to an American. In the
first place, he is aStoniShed to find that
in general, leaving out the very high
society people, every one dances with
everyone else without Introduction. Ap-
prove of it? Of course don't. Do you
think wOnld wish my daughters to
be addressed by any stranger VINO hap
pened to take fancy to them? Another
thing which startles us is the cordial re-
ceptiOn accorded to negroes. Why, in
a large ball at any of the various Euro
pean resorts you will see men OF all
colors, from a jet black down to pale
yellow, waltzing with the young ladies,
chatting and flirting with them-in fact,
quite as well received as any one else.
Of course there is no reason why they
should not be if they behave themselves;
but, all the same, it does CRATE on the
feelings of an American to see pretty
girl whirling about in the arms of a
thick-lipped African"
'sDO YOU think that they waltz in
Europe as we do?" | asked.
Decidedly not" he replied. "They
do not reverse, for instance, but go
spinning around with perfectly fiat
motion, like a top. 1t is mystery how
they can keep it up so long without
falling. Of course, too, this style of
waltzing makes it quite impossible to
avoid constant collisions. l remember
an amusing sight at Wiesbaden
two summers ago. A gentleman and
lady, both Americans, were taking
part in one of the grand balls, and
Well, the Germans all around them
finally began to get annoyed at the
clever way in which they would shoot
in and out through the crowd, and at
last several couples tried to push into
them. However, at each attempt of
this kind the gentlemen would skill
fully change direction and avoid the
encounter. l never laughed more
heartily, and / assure you the
Americans were not touched
once. o, our superiority in
the waltz is very generally ad,
mitted, even in Europe. heard an in
teresting story illustrating this only
few weeks ago. 1t was on the occasion
of splendid ball given in Athens, at
the kings palace. An American couple
were OlI lllc uOOl, UOOu OCiliS pas
sionately fond of waltz, were so alb
sorbed in it that they hardly noticed
that, one by one, the other dancers had
retired, and that at last they were quite
alone. 1t was only when the prince
himself began to clap his hands that a
burst of applause showed them that
they had been the objects Of general adj
miration.
81 had a long talk few days ago with
DeSoria, one of the best known dancing
teachers in Paris. 1t was he who taught
the De LessepS children to dance the
Peacock, which they did at an enter
tainment given some weeks ago at M.
de Bessep's house. 1t is an old-fash-
ioned quadrille which was popular in
the time of Louis XIV, and they danced
it very nicely. He tells me that young
men come to him and expect to learn
the waltz in two or three lessons. and
really.he would not believe me when I
told him that / have had pupils begin
with me at four years of age, and leave
me at their marriage, only to send me
their, own children later on. Yes, sir, /
have taught in families OH Fifth avenue
for three generations"
.'What of the beauty of French
woneh?'
so, you know, there is no comparison
between them and our American ladies,
none at all. / usually pass my sum-
mers in Europe, and / assure you when
l return in the fall and take my first
drive on the avenue / see more beauti-
full women there in one afternoon
than have seen during the whole ten
weeks of my stay aboard. Yes, there
is no doubt OF it, the ladies in the select
society of Fifth avenue have beauty
of face and a grace in the dance which
all the world may envy them"